A search engine company that has won plaudits for its efforts to protect users’ privacy is launching a proxy-surfing service on Thursday by which users can look at web pages without the knowledge of the page owner.

Proxy services allow web users to see pages via a third party’s web server, meaning that the operator of the page only sees the IP address of that server. Using a proxy means that the site operator will not know the IP address of the page viewer or be able to place tracking cookies on the viewer’s computer.

The service is being launched by Startpage, the US brand used by search engine company Ixquick. Ixquick was the first company to receive a ‘privacy seal’ from European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx for its attempts to improve the privacy protections afforded to its users.